Bethancourt isn't in the Rays' lineup Tuesday against the Cubs, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
Bethancourt has been seeing the ball well lately, logging a 1.133 OPS across 15 plate appearances over the past week. He'll get a day off Tuesday in favor of Francsico Mejia, who will bat ninth.
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Rays' Christian Bethancourt: Riding pine Sunday
Rotowire
Bethancourt is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Dodgers.
Bethancourt was behind the plate for both of the past two games, so it's not surprising that he'll get a breather Sunday while the series finale with the Dodgers begins at 11:35 a.m. ET. Francisco Mejia will start at catcher and form a battery with starting pitcher Josh Fleming.
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Rays' Christian Bethancourt: Piling up hits
Rotowire
Bethancourt went 3-for-4 with two doubles, two runs scored and an RBI on Friday against the Dodgers.
Bethancourt turned in his second consecutive multi-hit game and third in his last four starts. After slugging five homers in April, Bethancourt has only two long balls -- and six extra-base hits overall -- across 18 games in May. Nevertheless, he's maintained a .275 batting average with five RBI and seven runs scored in that same span.
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Rays' Christian Bethancourt: Gets breather Thursday
Rotowire
Bethancourt is not in the lineup Thursday against the Blue Jays, Ryan Bass of Bally Sports Sun reports.
Bethancourt went 2-for-4 and caught the full game in Tampa Bay's win over the Jays on Wednesday night. Francisco Mejia will start behind the plate and bat ninth in Thursday's afternoon tilt.
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Rays' Christian Bethancourt: On bench Sunday
Rotowire
Bethancourt is not in the starting lineup Sunday versus the Brewers, Kristie Ackert of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
Bethancourt will get a day off after he went 2-for-4 with a solo homer and a strikeout in Saturday's victory. Francisco Mejia will take over behind the plate and bat ninth in the series finale with Milwaukee.
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Rays' Christian Bethancourt: Slugs seventh homer
Rotowire
Bethancourt went 2-for-4 with a solo home run Saturday against the Brewers.
Bethancourt was one of three Rays to take Eric Lauer deep Saturday, with his solo shot coming in the fourth inning. He now has seven long balls on the season, three of which have come in his last 15 games. Bethancourt has had an all-or-nothing profile in 106 plate appearances on the campaign, as he has a .267 on-base percentage but a .273 ISO.
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Rays' Christian Bethancourt: Gets Wednesday off
Rotowire
Bethancourt is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Mets, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
Bethancourt will receive some routine maintenance after he caught both of the Rays' past two games. Francisco Mejia will relieve Bethancourt behind the dish Wednesday.
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Rays' Christian Bethancourt: Gets Saturday off
Rotowire
Bethancourt will sit Saturday against the Yankees, Ryan Bass of Bally Sports Sun reports.
Despite the day off, Bethancourt remains the clear primary option behind the plate in Tampa Bay, catching 24 games to Francisco Mejia's 17. Bethancourt's .776 OPS handily beats Mejia's .622 mark, so don't expect the depth chart to flip any time soon.
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Rays' Christian Bethancourt: Not in lineup Thursday
Rotowire
Bethancourt is not starting Thursday versus the Yankees, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
Francisco Mejia will catch and bat ninth in the opening game of the Rays' four-game series in the Bronx. Bethancourt caught the final two games of Tampa Bay's three-game set in Baltimore.
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Rays' Christian Bethancourt: Moves to bench Monday
Rotowire
Bethancourt is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Orioles, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
Bethancourt will get a breather after he caught both of the final two games of the Rays' series with the Yankees over the weekend. Francisco Mejia will spell Bethancourt behind the dish.
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Rays' Christian Bethancourt: Resting Wednesday
Rotowire
Bethancourt is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Pirates, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
He'll take a seat after going 1-for-8 with a home run while catching in both of the past two games. Francisco Mejia will check in behind the plate in place of Bethancourt.
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Rays' Christian Bethancourt: Swats late home run
Rotowire
Bethancourt went 1-for-4 with a solo homer and two RBI in Sunday's 12-9 loss to the White Sox.
Bethancourt was quieted at the plate until taking Kendall Graveman deep in the eighth for his fifth home run of the season. The 31-year-old plated his second run of the game the following inning on a sacrifice fly. Bethancourt had a career-high 11 home runs, 34 RBI and 39 runs scored a season ago and seems well on his way to surpassing those marks barring any sort of injury. He's now slashing .250/.303/.567 with nine extra base hits, 11 RBI, 12 runs and a 5:17 BB:K over 66 plate appearances.
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Rays' Christian Bethancourt: On bench Tuesday
Rotowire
Bethancourt is out of the lineup for Tuesday's game against the Astros, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
Bethancourt appears to have settled in as the Rays' preferred starter behind the plate, but like most catchers, he'll still be subject to at least a couple days off per week. Francisco Mejia will form a battery with starting pitcher Drew Rasmussen on Tuesday while Bethancourt heads to the bench.
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Rays' Christian Bethancourt: Settling into primary starting role
Rotowire
Bethancourt went 2-for-5 with two RBI and a run scored Monday against the Astros.
Bethancourt started the season in an even split behind the plate with Francisco Mejia, but the former has now started six of the last eight games behind the plate. He's earned that extra run, as he's in the midst of an eight-game hitting streak, during which he's hit .400 with three homers, eight RBI and seven runs scored. Overall, Bethancourt has maintained a 170 wRC+ and a .409 wOBA across 54 plate appearances on the campaign.
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Rays' Christian Bethancourt: Out of lineup
Rotowire
Bethancourt will be on the bench Saturday against the White Sox, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
Bethancourt has been the primary backstop in Tampa Bay this season, but not by a wide margin. He's started 12 games behind the plate, while Saturday's starter Francisco Mejia will be getting the call for the ninth time.
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Rays' Christian Bethancourt: Pops fourth homer
Rotowire
Bethancourt went 2-for-4 with a solo home run in Friday's 8-7 win over the White Sox.
With the Rays down 7-5 heading into the bottom of the ninth and staring at their first home loss of the season, Bethancourt kicked off the game-winning rally by squeaking an opposite-field shot just over the right-field wall. It's the catcher's third long ball as part of his six-game hitting streak, and he's now hitting .268 (11-for-41) on the year with four homers, seven RBI and nine runs in 12 contests.
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Rays' Christian Bethancourt: Smashes three-run shot in win
Rotowire
Bethancourt went 1-for-5 with a three-run home run in Sunday's 8-1 win over Toronto.
Bethancourt's three-run shot in the fifth extended Tampa Bay's lead to 7-1 and gave the catcher a long ball in back-to-back games. After not getting a hit across his first three starts, Bethancourt has hit safely in five of his last six, totaling two multi-hit games and six RBI during that stretch.
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Rays' Christian Bethancourt: Tallies second homer
Rotowire
Bethancourt went 2-for-4 with a solo home run Friday against the Blue Jays.
Bethancourt went deep for back-to-back homers with Josh Lowe in the seventh inning. It was Bethancourt's second homer of the season, and he now has an extra-base hit in four of his last five starts. He continues to split time evenly with Francisco Mejia behind the plate, but if Bethancourt continues to hit well he could start to earn additional plate appearances.
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Rays' Christian Bethancourt: Not starting Saturday
Rotowire
Bethancourt is out of the lineup for Saturday's game versus Oakland, Kristie Ackert of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
The 31-year-old and Francisco Mejia have alternated starts every game this season, and Mejia will get the nod Saturday after Bethancourt went 1-for-3 with a solo home run, a walk and an additional run scored during Friday's contest. Assuming the trend continues, Bethancourt should be back in the lineup for Sunday's series finale.
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Rays' Christian Bethancourt: Homers for first hit of season
Rotowire
Bethancourt went 1-for-3 with a solo home run, a walk and two runs scored Friday against the Athletics.
Bethancourt took Ken Waldichuk yard in the third inning to tally both his first hit and home run of the campaign. He's alternated starts with Francisco Mejia behind the plate to begin the season, though neither player has produced early on to separate themselves in the competition for playing time. Overall, Bethancourt has gone 1-for-12 with four strikeouts and two walks across four games.
